12th of Oct since my last post (not to draw attention to my pathetic effort of keeping a regular blog) - sad!
Works been pretty busy and I've been reffing lots of touch rugby in preparation for reffing at the NSW State Cup - I was invited to represent Sydney University which is awesome. The competition is in Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia. I'll finally be able to pick up my level 2 badge and start working towards level 3.
Anyway, back in Oct Mel and I joined friends of friends Nat and Kallan + a friend of theirs Annie (or crazy Annie as I like to call her) on a vineyard hopping session in Yass, NSW, Australia. It was wine festival weekend and all the vineyards we visited (around 5 or 6 I think - it's a bit hazy) had food on offer to give an excuse to drink more wine. The Yass region (near the current Australian capital Canberra) produce some awesome wines and to be honest it's so long ago now I can't remember them all. Two I do remember and well worth a visit are Jeir Creek and Clonakilla. The pies (and wine) were also notably tasty at whichever vineyard we we're at in the picture (we were too tanked to know where we we're by then)!
A great time and worth the trip down to good ole (if not tiny) Yass!
Cheers
Tim
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Sunday, 12 October 2008
NZ warriors so close and yet so far away
It was a while ago now but I've been busy, the NZ Warriors rugby league team made the semi finals of the NRL (National Rugby League) competition in Australia this year but came up against Manly - by far the best team this season. Not only did I go along to the game with a mate Ian, I'd decided the week before to grow a beard in support of retiring captain Ruben Wiki and the whole team. I created a group on facebook for the purpose of sharing the Ruben Wiki beard grow occasion and a few mates from around the world joined in and uploaded photos of their beard growing achievements. If you search for 'Ruben Wiki beard grow' you'll no doubt stumble upon our efforts!
Anyway Manly easily beat the NZ Warriors and have now gone on to easily beat Melbourne Storm in the grand final - I was a Manly supporter well before the NZ Warriors entered the competition so I was happy to see them win too!
Who knows what we'll decide to grow for next!
Tim
Anyway Manly easily beat the NZ Warriors and have now gone on to easily beat Melbourne Storm in the grand final - I was a Manly supporter well before the NZ Warriors entered the competition so I was happy to see them win too!
Who knows what we'll decide to grow for next!
Tim
Friday, 26 September 2008
Taronga Zoo
After a heavy night of boozing last weekend Mel and I decided to take a leisurely trip to Taronga Zoo to visit the animals. To be honest we did leave it late in the day and really only had around 2 hours to get around but I'm not the biggest Zoo fan anyway so focused on the bird show and gorillas - anything else was a bonus. Once you've been to African on safari it's really not the same. It's not cheap to get in either, (around $40 p/person) although you do get a discount if you've arrived by ferry (or at least say you have even if you've come by car/bus/foot/emu etc).
The bird show was genuinely good, hawks, doves and other birds I can't remember the names of all trained to cleverly do as the bird-keeper says (although the birds weren't behaving that well for the women running our show). They claim the bird show at Taronga Zoo is world renowned, I can't say I've been to many bird shows of this kind so will have to take their word for it.
The funniest thing of the day happened when watching the gorillas, they are so human like in many ways but not so much in others. There are cross sections of skulls (well not real ones, made of metal and wood) of both human and gorilla next to each other by the gorilla enclosure, you look at those and the teeth and hands of both and there is very little difference at all - then you walk over and watch the real gorillas for a while and there is big daddy gorilla eating his own crap (or his mates), fortunately most humans have moved on from that by now!
I'd recommend Taronga Zoo if you generally like Zoos and it does have the best back-drop you'd imagine a Zoo to have (the Sydney harbour) but allow plenty of time and don't miss the (apparently) world renowned bird show and the crap eating (if you're lucky) gorillas.
Cheers
Tim
The bird show was genuinely good, hawks, doves and other birds I can't remember the names of all trained to cleverly do as the bird-keeper says (although the birds weren't behaving that well for the women running our show). They claim the bird show at Taronga Zoo is world renowned, I can't say I've been to many bird shows of this kind so will have to take their word for it.
The funniest thing of the day happened when watching the gorillas, they are so human like in many ways but not so much in others. There are cross sections of skulls (well not real ones, made of metal and wood) of both human and gorilla next to each other by the gorilla enclosure, you look at those and the teeth and hands of both and there is very little difference at all - then you walk over and watch the real gorillas for a while and there is big daddy gorilla eating his own crap (or his mates), fortunately most humans have moved on from that by now!
I'd recommend Taronga Zoo if you generally like Zoos and it does have the best back-drop you'd imagine a Zoo to have (the Sydney harbour) but allow plenty of time and don't miss the (apparently) world renowned bird show and the crap eating (if you're lucky) gorillas.
Cheers
Tim
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Sydney Photobloggers meet-up
Usually my lack of regular blog posts is purely because I'm slack but this time it's because I've been so busy with stuff going on - those first few months of living in Sydney were relatively quiet due to lack of social life but that's all-a-changing! Between work and play there has not been much time left to hit the computer and post anything meaningful (debatable it ever is you might say) and all I've been able to keep updated are my Flickr photostream and facebook/twitter status.
Last week I had the pleasure of joining my first Flickr 'meet up' with the Sydney Photobloggers group and it was such a great evening. About 12 of us met at the Town Hall steps and took a slow stroll through the CBD to Circular Quay stopping on many occasions to chat and taking pictures of everything (incl each other) along the way.
We made it to the Glenmore pub in the Rocks without losing anyone and enjoyed a few beers and some food together - what a fantastic group of people all sharing a common interest for photography (and Flickr). Everyone was happy I'd brought along some free Flickr schwag too, and of course some of them bent my ear about new features coming along and about what they liked and disliked (fortunately not much dislike at all) as well.
I'll def head out with the Sydney Photobloggers again some time, great fun!
Bonza!
Tim
Last week I had the pleasure of joining my first Flickr 'meet up' with the Sydney Photobloggers group and it was such a great evening. About 12 of us met at the Town Hall steps and took a slow stroll through the CBD to Circular Quay stopping on many occasions to chat and taking pictures of everything (incl each other) along the way.
We made it to the Glenmore pub in the Rocks without losing anyone and enjoyed a few beers and some food together - what a fantastic group of people all sharing a common interest for photography (and Flickr). Everyone was happy I'd brought along some free Flickr schwag too, and of course some of them bent my ear about new features coming along and about what they liked and disliked (fortunately not much dislike at all) as well.
I'll def head out with the Sydney Photobloggers again some time, great fun!
Bonza!
Tim
Monday, 8 September 2008
Pool at Leichhardt, Sydney
It's been awhile since I played pool but when I'm playing I always wish I could more, when I was a kid I had a pool table in my bedroom and even though you had to play "up the wall' on a few shots it was a blast - this table in a Leichhardt suburb pub near Balmain was so old the casing outside the slot where the balls roll down had come off and so the balls rolled down the slot and dropped onto the floor. I can tell you that after the number of beers I'd had before, during and after the West (Balmain) Tigers rugby league match that night I could not stop laughing every time a ball would hit the floor and roll across the room – it was hilarious.
After playing a few games and getting in the mood for more we were kicked out but moved on to the Unity Hall pub in Balmain who you guess it, have a pool table as well. Coops (Ian Cooper) and I played many more games and eventually drew a crowd who in the beginning did not seem to want to challenge us but many many many beers later could see we were a bit worse for wear (which was drastically effecting the way we played) so put the coin on the table. We were in no fit state to be challenged by fresh players so let them have the table.
One other thing to note that night was the Guinness at the Unity Hall pub in Balmain. So you order a pint of Guinness (they have what looks like Guinness on tap) and they get a can out of the fridge, pour it into a glass then place it on the Guinness looking pump and flick a switch - some minor vibrations occur and hey presto a perfect looking Guinness head forms. It even tastes ok which kinda proves the head adds a purely psychological factor - everyone knows Guinness from a can can't taste as good as the real thing!
I'm so close to getting the wetsuit I want (a Rip Curl e3 with chest zip) and hitting the waves I can almost smell the salt water. I’ll take the body-board out to begin with but plan to take a couple of surf lessons (I’ve not surfed for 15 years now) and go out with the big boys… that coupled with the classical guitar I'm picking up from my mums in NZ in Oct and attempting to learn I might have to grow those dreads back again soon eh!
See ya!
Tim
After playing a few games and getting in the mood for more we were kicked out but moved on to the Unity Hall pub in Balmain who you guess it, have a pool table as well. Coops (Ian Cooper) and I played many more games and eventually drew a crowd who in the beginning did not seem to want to challenge us but many many many beers later could see we were a bit worse for wear (which was drastically effecting the way we played) so put the coin on the table. We were in no fit state to be challenged by fresh players so let them have the table.
One other thing to note that night was the Guinness at the Unity Hall pub in Balmain. So you order a pint of Guinness (they have what looks like Guinness on tap) and they get a can out of the fridge, pour it into a glass then place it on the Guinness looking pump and flick a switch - some minor vibrations occur and hey presto a perfect looking Guinness head forms. It even tastes ok which kinda proves the head adds a purely psychological factor - everyone knows Guinness from a can can't taste as good as the real thing!
I'm so close to getting the wetsuit I want (a Rip Curl e3 with chest zip) and hitting the waves I can almost smell the salt water. I’ll take the body-board out to begin with but plan to take a couple of surf lessons (I’ve not surfed for 15 years now) and go out with the big boys… that coupled with the classical guitar I'm picking up from my mums in NZ in Oct and attempting to learn I might have to grow those dreads back again soon eh!
See ya!
Tim
Thursday, 28 August 2008
Banana bread in Paddington, Sydney
Mel and I headed for Paddington market in Sydney a few weeks back, we picked at some of the market food along the way and checked out the stalls but most items we're not really to our style - still worth a look though and a great atmosphere around the food area where two blokes were playing guitars and singing folk type songs!
On the walk back from Paddington to the city we stumbled upon a great (and hidden) outdoor cafe area at the back of Lilifields Cafe on Oxford St. I went for my usual Mocha and Mel (not being a coffee drinker) had a hot chocolate. We seem to have both become mildly addicted to banana bread so had a rather large piece of that to keep us going - banana bread is really just like banana cake with a healthy sounding name and probably even more sugar! Anyway who cares about that, it tastes nice especially with some honey.
The shopping in Paddington is fantastic, and that's coming from someone who generally hates shopping. There is a g-star raw shop as well as American Apparel and many other local and popular well known labels.
It made me think about trying Paddington to live when our current rental in Balmain runs out - who knows but it would be closer to the eastern beaches...
Cheers
Tim
On the walk back from Paddington to the city we stumbled upon a great (and hidden) outdoor cafe area at the back of Lilifields Cafe on Oxford St. I went for my usual Mocha and Mel (not being a coffee drinker) had a hot chocolate. We seem to have both become mildly addicted to banana bread so had a rather large piece of that to keep us going - banana bread is really just like banana cake with a healthy sounding name and probably even more sugar! Anyway who cares about that, it tastes nice especially with some honey.
The shopping in Paddington is fantastic, and that's coming from someone who generally hates shopping. There is a g-star raw shop as well as American Apparel and many other local and popular well known labels.
It made me think about trying Paddington to live when our current rental in Balmain runs out - who knows but it would be closer to the eastern beaches...
Cheers
Tim
Friday, 22 August 2008
Mums trip to Sydney
She came and went in 24 hours but we made the most of the time for sure!
Mum arrived late afternoon on Friday 9th Aug, Mel and I picked her up from the airport and drove her to our home in Balmain. We had a pot-luck dinner, a good chat then an early night knowing the next day would be a busy one.
On the Saturday morning we headed for the city on a ferry under the Harbour Bridge, took a walk around the Opera House and Botanical Gardens before jumping on another ferry to Manly for the rest of the day.
That night we decided to go out for a Thai dinner at Blue Ginger in Balmain which was very nice, although I'm finding the chicken in Australia to be rather 'grey' in colour and a bit of a strange texture unless purchased from a butcher.
Sunday was another nice day, although the weather uncharacteristically packed up so our trip over to the eastern beaches to do the Bondi to Coogee walk may not have been the best decision we made. It was also the weekend of the City to Surf race, which Mel assured me went from the city to Manly, of course when we arrived near Bondi only to be diverted along the coast line away from the thousands racing we realised our mistake!
We dropped mum off at the airport around 4pm, had a farewell drink (as you do) said our goodbyes (never fun) and headed our separate ways.
It's so cool that mum can head over from NZ for a weekend at relatively little cost and hassle - def a huge benefit of being back in the southern hemisphere.
Cheers
Tim
P.S. My first blood niece was born at 11am on Thursday 26 June 2008. Ella Grace Kathleen Simmons weighed in at 6 lb 9 and is very cute.
Mum arrived late afternoon on Friday 9th Aug, Mel and I picked her up from the airport and drove her to our home in Balmain. We had a pot-luck dinner, a good chat then an early night knowing the next day would be a busy one.
On the Saturday morning we headed for the city on a ferry under the Harbour Bridge, took a walk around the Opera House and Botanical Gardens before jumping on another ferry to Manly for the rest of the day.
That night we decided to go out for a Thai dinner at Blue Ginger in Balmain which was very nice, although I'm finding the chicken in Australia to be rather 'grey' in colour and a bit of a strange texture unless purchased from a butcher.
Sunday was another nice day, although the weather uncharacteristically packed up so our trip over to the eastern beaches to do the Bondi to Coogee walk may not have been the best decision we made. It was also the weekend of the City to Surf race, which Mel assured me went from the city to Manly, of course when we arrived near Bondi only to be diverted along the coast line away from the thousands racing we realised our mistake!
We dropped mum off at the airport around 4pm, had a farewell drink (as you do) said our goodbyes (never fun) and headed our separate ways.
It's so cool that mum can head over from NZ for a weekend at relatively little cost and hassle - def a huge benefit of being back in the southern hemisphere.
Cheers
Tim
P.S. My first blood niece was born at 11am on Thursday 26 June 2008. Ella Grace Kathleen Simmons weighed in at 6 lb 9 and is very cute.
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